Op-Ed: Better (not bigger) Vermont challenges the Vermont Futures Project
Better (not Bigger) Vermont is a nonprofit organization that works to promote steady state economies in Vermont. We want Vermonters to recognize the need for an ecologically sound economy and the need to balance our human population and consumption with our region’s limited resources.
Op-Ed: Who is ‘They’?
The recent assassinations of Charlie Kirk and Minnesota Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband show how quickly violence is replacing dialogue in our national life. Vermonters cannot afford to think it will not touch us.
Commentary: Vt. Western Swing band leader Rick Norcross shares a newsy retirement update
Rick Norcross, long the face of Western Swing music in Vermont, shares a newsy retirement update that includes special accolades he received this summer, a big step for his archive being preserved and his thoughts on the state of local radio in Vermont.
Efficiency is the first, best tool for lower energy bills
Vermonters feel it every time we get an energy bill or fill up at the pump—costs are high and unpredictable. Global markets swing wildly, storms knock out power, and heating our homes in the winter takes a bigger bite out of our paychecks than it used to.
LETTER: Welcome back to Congregational Church Sunday school
The Waterbury Congregational Church School has some exciting plans for the upcoming year and we want to let the community know about them.
LETTER: ‘We can be the Democratic response’
I salute the work of Indivisible, Third Way, Move On, and the countless number of organizations agitating for change. Our current government is actively harming the vast majority of people in the name of profit and greed. These organizations are raising the alarm by protest and by speaking truth to power.
LETTER: Art auction raises $8,200 for immigrant defense fund
Does combining art, music, food, friends and the opportunity to make a difference sound like fun? Well, it was for the attendees of ARTful justice, a fundraiser for the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund, which raised over $8,200 on Sept. 5.
COMMENTARY: Speak up now – America’s roadless areas are under attack
Whether you have enjoyed a hike to a summit in the Green or White Mountains, fishing a cold-water trout stream, a postcard-perfect view from a highway overlook, or a glass of clean water from your tap, there’s a good chance that a U.S. Forest Service “Inventoried Roadless Area” is to thank.
LETTER: By 6th grade, students are plugged into phones, social media
A student survey last spring of 5th-7th graders at Crossett Brook Middle School found that by 6th grade, more than half of students have phones and are on social media.
Op-Ed: Bear hounding is cruel
Hounding in Vermont is often defended as a tradition and a way of connecting with the land, but tradition is no excuse for cruelty.
HARPing up excitement for Harwood Union High’s Music & Theatre Department
Three Harwood Union High School students look back at highlights of the 2024-25 school year for the school’s music and theater programs with an eye toward HARP, the project now underway to raise over $1 million to revitalize the school auditorium.
OPINION: Think there will still be elections? Wake up!
Many Americans are counting on the 2026 midterm elections to bring a change of power to the political scene in Washington, D.C. Wake up! That’s not likely to happen unless there is massive resistance to prevent President Trump from postponing or eliminating elections.
LETTER: LIFT fundraiser will support future student travel-study
On Aug. 23 at Camp Meade in Middlesex, LIFT (the Cyrus Zschau Memorial Fund) raised almost $6,000 for scholarships for Harwood Union High School students to travel on school-sponsored trips.
COMMENTARY: A Labor Day message
Labor Day is a time to honor workers’ contributions across Vermont.
LETTER: ‘What do we know?’ School board leaders address Vt. education uncertainty
We want to give our district’s communities an update on what we know and what we don’t know about the future of our schools, in light of the recently passed Act 73, the governor’s education reform bill.
COMMENTARY: Vt. Secretary of State weighs in on Trump attacks on mail-in voting, ‘voting machines’
On Aug. 18, President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that he plans to issue an executive order eliminating vote-by-mail and the use of “voting machines” in next year’s midterm Congressional elections. Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas shares the following response.
LETTER: Tiny Acorn farewell after 20 years of magic
After over 20 years of magic, The Tiny Acorn has officially closed its doors. These past two decades have been ones filled with crafts and story times, holiday magic, the joy of gift-giving, community events, visits from friends new and old, resilience from floods and losses, childhoods transforming inside and outside this shop, uplifting local artists, and so many more joys we will cherish forever.
LETTER: Circus Smirkus details follow-up steps after rigging accident
As regional media outlets and the Circus Smirkus communications teams have previously shared, a rigging accident occurred during the evening performance of the Big Top Tour in Wrentham, Massachusetts, on July 22, causing injury to one of our performers.
LETTER: Vermont’s resistance ought to be led, in part, by Gov. Scott
Resistance right now is critical. In Vermont, our resistance ought to be led, at least in part, by Phil Scott. Our governor, however, has done little to resist the bully in Washington.
Letter: Comment by Aug. 19 on state rule change to prevent wakesports on the Waterbury Reservoir & other lakes
State rules approved in 2024 now allow wakesports on 30 inland Vt. lakes including the Waterbury Reservoir. Calls to reduce that number have prompted the state to consider rule changes. Public comments are due this Tuesday, Aug. 19. The Friends of Waterbury Reservoir support new restrictions.